Thursday, April 18, 2013

Milo and Olive

As a superfan of both pizza and the wife-husband team of Zoe Nathan and Josh Loeb (Rustic Canyon, Huckleberry, Sweet Rose Creamery), I was long overdue for a visit to Milo and Olive. The pizzeria sits on the same stretch of Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica as Rustic Canyon and Huckleberry and, like its sister eateries, spotlights locally-sourced, seasonal ingredients (and also showcases Zoe's phenomenal pastries).

Recently, my boyfriend and I found ourselves in Santa Monica for an impromptu errand with no dinner plans. Since the tiny, twenty-four seat Milo and Olive doesn't accept reservations, it seemed like as a good a time as any to pay them a visit. Our initial estimated wait time of 45 minutes crept up to over an hour thanks to some lingering diners, but I refused to let a (serious) case of the "hangries" come between me and my pizza.

Once seated, we started with the Wood-Fired Garlic Knot ($7.50), a plump satchel of pizza dough stuffed with olive oil, thyme and whole garlic cloves-- lots and lots of them.

With a delightfully crisp exterior and pillowy soft, garlicky interior, it's no wonder the garlic knot is one of the restaurant's most popular dishes.

For our entrees, we opted for two of Milo and Olive's specials.

The Bacon and Brussels Sprout special arrived with pliable, crispy pizza dough topped with a hearty helping of brussels sprouts, Nueske bacon slivers, red onions and sottocerne cheese ($20.00). I wished that the brussels sprouts and bacon had more a tad more char and crunch but, overall, the pie was pretty delightful, and the all-important crust ranked among the best in LA.

Our second entree was the off-menu Black Truffle Pizza special with truffle cream and taleggio cheese ($40.00) When we were informed that only two of these remained and heard the couple across from us order one of them, I quickly stated my case for the splurge to the boyfriend. Could we really miss out on this pizza and be subjected to watching our neighbors enjoy the truffle goodness? Absolutely not. The creamy, umami-laden pizza boasted a generous helping of truffle shavings and more than justified the price tag in our minds--especially when you consider the leftovers of the sizable pizza that we took home.

There's a reason that Rustic Canyon, Huckleberry and Sweet Rose Creamery are at the top of my list of favorite spots, and now Milo and Olive joins them.